Essex County Cricket Club have announced their former captain Brian 'Tonker' Taylor has died at the age of 84.

He made over 500 First Class appearances for Essex between 1949-73, second only to Keith Fletcher.
He was also named as the ‘Wisden Cricketer of the Year’ in 1972.

He also captained the county for seven seasons from 1967, up until he retired from cricket in 1973.

A skilled wicketkeeper, Brian has the 7th highest number of dismissals in First Class cricket with 1,295, which included over 1,000 catches and 191 stumpings; a record which is unlikely ever to be surpassed by an Essex player.

Hitting over 18,000 runs for the Club, Brian was a very popular batsman with Essex supporters playing exciting cricket with a variety of shots that led to his 'Tonker' nickname.
After retiring Taylor became an England Test selector in 1973 and 74 before becoming involved in schools cricket across Essex

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Essex County Championship captain Ryan ten Doeschate has extended his contract with the club Credit: Press Association

County Championship captain Ryan ten Doeschate has committed his future to Essex after signing a one-year contract extension.

The 36-year-old's deal will now run until the end of the 2018 season.

After a fine season in all competitions, ten Doeschate reached 1000 County Championship runs for the campaign and scored the runs that clinched promotion.

The former Dutch international was happy to extend his time in Chelmsford and said:

"My affinity with the club has grown throughout my time with Essex. I have thoroughly enjoyed leading this talented squad in the County Championship and hope we can continue to be successful over the next couple of years.

Helping this team to Division One was the perfect way to cap off an excellent season."

Essex are set to play T20 cricket at the Olympic stadium in London Credit: Press Association

Essex chief executive Derek Bowden has revealed an agreement "in principle" has been reached with regard to the club playing Twenty20 cricket at the London Olympic Stadium from 2016.

Essex have been looking into the possibility for a number of years.

Bowden said: "In principle there is an agreement that a two-week festival of T20-type cricket could be played at the Olympic Park from 2016.

The London Legacy Development Corporation is responsible for future uses of the stadium, and Bowden added: "London Legacy and the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) are very supportive of the notion of a two-week festival of cricket in the summer."